Device for Baking Dough-Based Food Products, Net and Method for Baking Such Products

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a device that comprises a carriage and an oven including a baking chamber, a plurality of stacked baking soles and means for heating said soles. The device is characterized in that it includes a plurality of nets made of a heat-resistant flexible material and includes at least one cell for receiving said food products, in that the carriage is arranged for inserting said nets into the oven, for withdrawing same and for positioning same opposite a sole, and in that it includes means for vertically moving the soles and/or the nets relative to each other so as to place said soles and said nets in an active position in which the bottom of the cells of a net is in contact with the baking sole located opposite and is capable of deformation upon contact with said sole so as to bake said products by induction, and in a passive position, in which the bottom of said cells is separated from the sole located opposite.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/582,158, filed Aug. 31, 2012 by Philippe Pelle and titled, “Devicefor Baking Dough-Based Food Products, Net and Method for Baking SuchProducts” (attorney docket no. 0928.10), which is a '371 ofPCT/EP2011/050679 filed Jan. 19, 2011 by Philippe Pelle and titled,“Device for Baking Dough-Based Food Products, Net and Method for BakingSuch Products,” which claims priority to FR 1051568 filed Mar. 4, 2010,the entire teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety, for all purposes.

This invention relates to a device for the baking of foods, namelydough-based foods such as dough pieces.

Its specific application is for bakery, pastries, biscuits or catering,where a certain number of products are manufactured from dough.

For purposes of simplification, the invention shall only be describedwith reference to the baking of dough pieces, such as those used for themanufacture of bread loaves and baguettes in the bakery sector.

The invention also concerns a baking net o such a cooking device, aswell as a method for the baking of dough pieces.

In the bakery sector, there are two main types of oven, which are the“soles” oven and the “convection” oven, while the latter has twovariants, with a “fixed” carriage and one with a “rotating” carriage.

An oven with soles comprises one or more baking chambers, which may ormay not be separated, inside of which there are one or more soles, thesebeing superimposed forming a column with several cooking levels, and mayeven have several columns placed side by side.

Each sole consists of a hearth made of heat-resistant material.

The oven has several means of heating the air in the oven, such aselectric resistance or a burner, and to circulate the air inside thechamber in order to raise the temperature of the soles. Sometimes aheated fluid (air, water, oil or other) passes directly inside the sole.

In this type of oven, the dough pieces are placed on the surface of thehot sole and the bread is baked by way of conduction, that is by directtransfer of the heat stored by the sole to the bread.

The quality of this baking method is optimal and produces a bread loafthe underside of which consumers can identify as resulting from artisanbaking.

This type of product is therefore highly prized and can be sold at arelatively high price.

However, in this type of oven, the dough pieces are placed on soles,either individually using a shovel, or collectively using an ovenloader, which the baker uses to insert a batch of dough pieces on agiven oven sole, The baker must then repeat this operation for eachbaking level (on each sole).

Also, he must first handle each dough piece to take it off a so-called“proofing” carriage, on which this dough piece proofs, in order to placeit on the oven loader.

Consequently, this type of oven requires a lot of handling, a lot oflabour and therefore presents low productivity levels. However, consumerdemand for bread baked in sole ovens is constantly increasing.

Convection ovens generally exist in the form of a cabinet inside whichthere is a cooking chamber, means of heating and of air propulsionallowing the hot air to be circulated in the said chamber.

This oven works with a carriage that can be inserted inside of the saidcooking chamber.

This carriage carries several platters, called “nets”, which aresuperimposed and placed on lateral guide rails along which they canslide. Each net has a series of rigid parallel cells inside each ofwhich the baker can place a dough piece. When the nets are full of doughpieces, they are placed on the carriage, and when the carriage is full,it is inserted into the baking chamber of the convection oven in asingle operation.

Inside of such an oven, the bread is baked by convection, that is by thetransfer of heat from the air that circulates inside the baking chamberto the bread. As previously specified, the carriage can he fixed orrotating.

This type of oven allows for quick and simultaneous handling of a largenumber of dough pieces. The carriage can be inserted into the oven bypersons with little technical training, labour is reduced to a minimumand productivity levels are high. This technique therefore saves timeand energy.

However, the nets on which the dough pieces are placed mark theunderside of the. bread which then has a grid appearance. The consumerthen associates the bread obtained with a product resulting fromindustrial manufacturing.

Therefore, there is less consumer demand for bread obtained in this typeof oven and the bread can only be sold in places where the bread can beof average quality, such as in hypermarkets and supermarkets.

Bakers would naturally like to be able to sell bread that is identifiedby the consumer as a product resulting from artisan baking methods whileretaining the productivity levels resulting from the use of a convectionoven.

Several technical solutions have been considered to attempt to meet thisobjective.

Thus, there are so-called “multi-loading” systems that combine the useof a classic sole oven with a carriage comprising several superimposedloading belts. This carriage allows the baker to successively load abatch of dough pieces on the sole of each baking floor.

However, such a multi-loading carriage is very heavy and thereforedifficult to handle. It must also be rigorously aligned with the ovensoles. Finally, it generally comprises only eight to ten loading beltsfor technical reasons and in order to limit its weight. Thisconsequently also limits the number of oven soles to eight or ten.

The proofing carriages used prior to baking have between sixteen andtwenty levels. There is therefore an inconsistency between the number ofproofing carriage levels and the number of multi-loader loading beltsand/or the number of oven soles. This then forces the baker to usespecific proofing carriages which correspond to the number of soles butwhich do not fully use the capacity of the proofing chambers.

The number of proofing carriages and chambers must therefore beincreased, which also increases space utilisation and cost.

Also, this creates cumbersome pre-baking procedures, and requiresseveral proofing carriages and carriages for the transfer of doughpieces, from which the baker takes the dough pieces and places them onthe multi-loading carriage. The overall burden of all this equipment issignificant.

There is also an apparatus which combines the use of a sole oven with acarriage comprising several nets for dough pieces. The carriage isinserted inside the oven in such a way that the nets are located closeto the soles.

Such a solution presents the advantages of a convection oven in terms ofproductivity, but the baking process is carried out using radiation heatand the underside of the bread keeps its “grilled” appearance associatedwith industrial baking, which has a negative image to consumers.

Finally, there is also document DE 199 03 048, an oven comprising onebaking chamber equipped with several heated soles and a baking carriagewhich carries several rigid pastry sheets. This oven also has a raisingapparatus which allows the said carriage to be raised or lowered inorder to put the pastry sheets in contact with the heated soles or tomove them away from them.

The position of the baking carriage can therefore be modified duringbaking. According to a preferred variant of application described inthis document, the pastry sheets are first brought into contact with thesoles for high heat transfer, then they are moved away for the rest ofthe baking process.

Such an oven presents many disadvantages. The flat and rigid pastrysheets can be heavy and present high thermal inertia if made fromstainless steel. They can be lighter if made from aluminium sheets, butthis results in low quality heat transfer.

The cooking of the product obtained is therefore difficult to regulate.

Moreover, if the dough piece must be proofed prior to baking, suchpastry sheets cannot be used since they store the dough pieces on a flatsurface which means they do not retain their round shape.

Finally, the humidity between the product to be baked and the pastrysheet is not well evacuated. If significant levels of humidity areaccumulated, such as during proofing prior to baking, the steam that isnot evacuated marks the bottom of the baked product small bubbles) whichmeans that the baked product has a visual appearance disliked byconsumers.

The purpose of the invention is therefore to remedy these disadvantagesof the state of the art and namely to offer a cooking device allowingthe visual and taste qualities of sole-baked products to be combinedwith the easy handling, productivity and profitability of the bakingprocess using a convection oven as described above.

To this end, the invention relates to a device for the baking of doughbased food products, namely dough pieces, comprising:

-   -   An oven and a carriage,    -   The oven comprising one baking chamber, one cooking module which        itself comprises several baking soles made from material with        good thermal conductivity, stacked and spaced apart, and means        of heating the said soles, such cooking module being located in        the interior of the said baking chamber.

According to the invention, this cooking device:

-   -   Comprises several nets, each one comprising a strip of flexible        material fixed onto a frame, such flexible material, which is        capable of deformation, being heat-resistant and comprising at        least one cell for the said food products to be cooked,    -   The said carriage carries the said nets placed in a superimposed        manner spaced apart from each other, and is arranged in order to        allow the said nets to be inserted into the oven and withdrawn        from it and comprises means of positioning each net on and above        a cooking sole,    -   In addition, it also comprises the means to move the soles of        the said cooking module and/or the nets vertically in relation        to each other, these vertical movement mechanisms allowing the        said soles and the said nets to be brought into a so-called        “active” position, whereby the bottom of the cells of a net        touches the baking sole above which it is located and deforms        upon contact with this baking sole so that the said food        products are baked by conduction, and into a so-called “passive”        position, whereby the bottom of the said cells is placed away        from the sole above which they are placed so that the said nets        can be inserted into or withdrawn from the said oven.

According to the other beneficial and non-restrictive characteristics ofthe invention taken alone or in combination:

-   -   The said vertical movement mechanisms for the soles and/or nets        are housed in the oven;    -   The said vertical displacement mechanisms are mechanisms for the        displacement of the cooking module which allow it to be raised        bringing it into the active position and lowered bringing it        into the passive position;    -   The said vertical movement mechanisms for the nets are located        on the carriage and consist of a support chassis for the said        nets, which can be moved in a linear direction in relation to        the carriage structure;    -   The cooking device comprises mechanisms for the simultaneous        rotation of the nets and the cooking module;    -   The mechanisms for the simultaneous rotation of the nets and the        cooking module also constitute the vertical movement mechanisms        of the soles of the said cooking module and/or the nets in        relation to each other;    -   The said means of heating the soles comprise an air propulsion        turbine and a heat source such as a burner or electric        resistance;    -   The cooking device comprises a control apparatus for the        vertical displacement mechanisms of the said soles and/or the        said nets in relation to each other and/or the mechanisms for        the simultaneous rotation of the nets and the cooking module in        accordance with the position of the oven door so that the nets        and soles are placed in the active position when the oven door        is closed and in the passive position when the oven door is        open;    -   Said carriage comprises a chassis with pairs of slides and the        frame of each net is sized and arranged to be slideable along        said rails and be supported by them;    -   The flexible material of which said nets are made is water        and/or steam permeable, such as a web or lattice;    -   Said nets are made of woven fibreglass;    -   Said nets are coated with a non-stick material.

The invention also concerns a net for cooking dough-based food products,namely dough pieces, for a cooking device as cited above. This netcomprises: a support frame and a strip of flexible material, such as aweb or trellis, attached to this frame and shaped in such a way as todefine at least one cell for the said food-products, this flexiblematerial being made from woven fibreglass, and optionally coated with anon-stick material.

Finally, the invention also relates to a method for cooking doughpieces. It comprises the steps of:

-   -   Placing the said dough pieces inside the cells of a net made        from a flexible material, such as a web or lattice, fixed onto a        frame, this flexible material being heat-resistant,    -   inserting this net into an oven equipped with at least one        baking sole and means of heating the said soles,    -   Vertically moving the said sole and/or net in relation to each        other, so as to bring the said sole and said net into a        so-called “active” position, whereby the bottom of the cells of        the net touches the baking sole above which it is located and        deforms upon contact with this cooking sole so that the said        food products are cooked by conduction,    -   Vertically moving the said sole and/or net in relation to each        other, so as to bring them into a so-called “passive” position,        whereby the bottom of said cells is removed from the sole above        which they are placed so that said net can be extracted from        said oven.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be shown bythe description to follow, with reference to attached drawings, whichshow some but not all of several possible methods of application.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a method of application of the cookingdevice in accordance with the invention which combines an oven and acarriage;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a net according to the invention,

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing the operating principle of a firstmethod of application of said cooking device,

FIGS. 4A and 4B and FIGS. 5A and 5B respectively are similar diagramsfor a second and third method of application of the invention.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the cooking device 1 according o theinvention comprises an oven 2 and a carriage 3.

The oven 2 is a cabinet type oven, which has a door 20 allowing accessto a baking chamber 21 inside the said cabinet.

The baking chamber 21 is bounded by vertical walls 211 inside thecabinet, a ceiling 212 and a bottom 213, (also see FIGS. 3A to 5B).

A cooking module 22 is located inside the baking chamber 21.

The cooking module 22 comprises several superimposed soles 220, spacedapart from each other at a specific interval E1. Each sole consists of ahearth made from a material with good thermal conductivity, such as arefractory, aluminium, ceramic, cast iron or other material.

The number of these soles 220 is variable. In order to simplify thedrawings, the number of soles represented is eight in FIG. 1 and sevenin FIGS. 3A to 5B. However, the number of these soles is generallycomprised between sixteen and twenty depending on the size of theproducts to be baked.

As will be described in more detail below, the cooking module 22 may befixed or mobile.

When this cooking module is fixed, the soles 220 may be fixed laterallydirectly onto the vertical walls 211 of the baking chamber. They mayalso be fixed onto a metallic chassis 221, itself attached to the ovenwalls, (see for example FIGS. 4A and 4B).

The soles 220 may be permanently fixed to the oven walls or to thechassis 221 or otherwise be detachable. In the latter case, they couldstand on angles, themselves attached to the oven walls or the chassis.

The soles 220 may also be installed or fixed on a carriage, the latterbeing housed in the baking chamber 21 and can be extracted from it, suchas upon cleaning of the oven.

Preferably, and for reasons to be explained below, the soles 220 areonly fixed on the rear vertical wall of the oven, either directly or byway of a chassis.

The oven 2 also comprises means 23 of heating the soles 220.

The means of heating 23 may consist of electric resistance or a heatmedium which winds in the thickness of each sole 220 in order to heatit. In this case, the soles 220 are fixed.

However, preferably, these heating mechanisms 23 consist of a burner orelectric resistance associated with a turbine which allows the hot airor other fluid, which has previously been heated by such burner or thisresistance, inside the baking chamber 21.

These mechanisms 23 are illustrated in FIGS. 3A to 5B are can only beseen on these figures.

Upon contact with the hot air, the material of the soles 220 will storethe heat.

This principle of heating the soles is known as “convection” heating.

The cooking module 22 may either be rotationally fixed or rotationallydriven (see arrows F on FIG. 5B), the hot air being blown by the turbineand circulating inside the baking chamber 21.

The cooking module 22 permanently remains inside the baking chamber 21for the soles 220 to remain hot once they have reached the necessarytemperature to cook the food products, It must, however, be noted thatit can be detachable for maintenance operations or to return the oven toa standard version if the convection mode is required.

FIG. 1 shows a mode of implementation for the carriage 3. This comprisesa referenced chassis 30, for example, which could be assembled on fourwheels 31 which enable the carriage to be moved.

The chassis 30 consists of a square or rectangular base 301 at theangles of which four vertical uprights 302 are fixed or welded, whichthemselves are joined together in pairs on their upper extremity by acrossbar 303 to rigidify the structure.

The crossbars and uprights are, for example, made of metallic tubes.

The base 301 may be solid, as shown in FIG. 1, or be made of an assemblyof four tubes assembled or welded at their ends so as to form a frame.

Sliders 32, which could be made of metallic L-shaped angles, are fixedto the vertical uprights 302 on their ends. Such sliders 32 are arrangedin pairs, one of each pair attached to uprights 302), so as to receivethe two lateral ends of a net 4 which shall be described below and tomaintain the later horizontal or significantly horizontal.

The nets 4 can thus be loaded on carriage 3 by sliding between the twosliders 32 of a given pair.

In order not to unnecessarily overload the drawings, carriage 3 has beenshown as only being able to hold eight stacked nets 4. However, such acarriage normally comprises between sixteen and twenty pairs of rails 32in order to hold the same number of nets 4.

As an advantage, the number of nets 4 and soles 220 is identical.

According to another variant of application not shown in the drawings,the carriage 3 can be made in two parts, one of which to hold the nets 4and another part bearing the wheels 31 or other means of moving thecarriage, these two parts being separable from one another.

According to a another variant of application not shown in the drawings,the carriage 3 comprises gripper arms which allows all of the nets 4 tobe handled and placed inside of the oven 2 or to withdraw them from it.The carriage 3 is then removed from the oven during the cooking processitself.

The use of these different ovens will be described below.

One of the nets 4 will be described in more detail in reference to FIG.2,

The term “net” 4 designates a platter comprising a frame 41 forming asupport frame for a strip of flexible material 42, such as a web ortrellis. The frame 41 is preferably made of metal or any other materialresistant to the temperatures reached the oven.

The frame 41 could be made of several solid metallic wire, such asstainless steel, preferably welded to each other.

The frame 41 consists of several rectilinear wires 410, of which thereare seven in FIG. 2, placed horizontally in parallel to each other. Thefive wires 410 in the middle are also curved vertically both ends 411.An additional wire 412 is curved inwards several times so as to form asquare or rectangular frame onto which the ends of the wires 410 arewelded.

Both rectilinear lateral portions of the wire 412 are guides 413. Theyare placed on the sliders 32 when the net 4 is engaged on the carriage3.

The strip of flexible material 42 is placed and fixed on the frame 41 soas to form a series of parallel cells 420, here in the form of chutes.

Each chute 420 extends between two neighbouring wires 410. In FIG. 2,six chutes formed between the seven wires 410 can be seen.

The length of the strip of flexible material 42 and therefore the lengthof the chutes 420 is adapted in order to be able to hold for example onedough piece p or two placed end-to-end, or even more.

The number of cells 420 is dependent on the dimensions of the productand the cooking capacity required for the oven. There is at least onewell per net 4.

The strip of flexible material 42 must be sufficiently flexible in orderto be reversed and take the shape of the dough piece p when this isplaced inside a cell 420 (see central part of FIG. 2) or to deform andcome in contact with the sole 220 as described below, (see right handside of FIG. 2).

The bottom of the cells 420 is referenced as 421.

The flexible material 42 must also be resistant to the heat levels inthe oven. It has the advantage of being water and/or steam permeable.

In accordance with a first variant of application, the flexible material42 is a web made of wires of a heat-resistant material, such asstainless steel, or another material, according to the aesthetic aspectrequired for the product to be cooked. These wires are woven into a webor trellis. The diameter of each wire is preferably between 20 μm and100 μm. The ratio between the open areas and the solid areas of the net(percentage of open areas) should preferably be lower than 60%, and morepreferably comprised between 20% and 60% in order to prevent the doughfrom falling through the netting when it is not yet cooked. Theexistence of passages between the netting of the net makes this materialwater and/or steam permeable.

Preferably, the wire used for the trellis is bare, which means that itdoes not have a silicone or fluoropolymer-type non-stick coating, suchas those used in nets known from prior art. This is healthier for theconsumer of the baked product obtained. However, it could also be coatedwith such a non-stick coating.

In accordance with another variant of application, the flexible material42 is a fabric formed of woven fibreglass (called “woven fibreglass”).Preferably, it is coated with a non-stick material, such aspolytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or silicone. Preferably, its thicknessshould be lower than 0.3 mm, and more preferably less than 0.15 mm, andmost preferably around 0.1 mm. Such fabric is sold by the companyTACONIC Corporate, for example.

The openings between the fibres or the wires guarantee water and steampermeability. These openings are, however, sufficiently small so thatthe dough from the dough pieces (even highly hydrated) does not passthrough them when it is not yet cooked.

The sliders 32 of the carriage 3 are positioned in such a way that twoadjacently stacked nets 4 are set apart from each other by a space E2.

On FIG. 1, only three nets 4 have been shown.

The dimensions of carriage 3, nets 4 and their spacing E2, as well asthe dimensions of the soles 220 and their spacing E1 and the width ofthe soles 220 and of the nets 4 are adapted so as to allow the insertionof the carriage 3 inside of the baking chamber 21, each sole 220 beingplaced under a net 4.

This specific arrangement is better shown in FIGS. 3A to 5B.

For the oven version with soles 220 fixed to the lateral walls 211 ofthe oven, it must be noted that in order to obtain this fitting of thecarriage 3 between the stacked soles 220, the carriage does not havevertical uprights 302 in its front part. The sliders 32 arecantilevered.

For the version of the oven where the soles 220 are fixed on the rearwall of the oven or on a rear chassis, the carriage 30 can have fourvertical uprights 302. In this case, the soles 220 or the entire cookingmodule 22 have a lesser width than that of the carriage 3, which allowsit to be inserted into the oven.

According to the invention, the oven 2 also comprises verticaldisplacement. mechanisms for the soles 220 in relation to the nets 4.

Different methods of application of these mechanisms will now bedescribed in connection with the diagrams in FIGS. 3A to 5B.

These vertical displacement mechanisms allow the soles 220 of thecooking module 22 and the nets 4 to be brought either into a so-called“active” position, whereby the bottom 421 of the cells of the nets 4touches a baking sole 220, or into a so-called “passive” position,whereby the bottom 421 of the cells 420 is placed away from the sole 220above which they are placed.

“Vertical displacement mechanisms” means any mechanism which allows thesoles or the nets to be brought into a higher or lower position thantheir original position at the time when the carriage is loaded into theoven.

On FIG. 2, four different situations occupied by the cells 420 are shownas a diagram.

In the left hand side of FIG. 2, the situation of two empty cells 420has been shown where the net 4 is placed on a flat surface s, such as awork surface. The flexible material 42 is fixed on frame 41 so that thebottom 421 of the cells does not touch or is hardly flush with thesurface s.

In the middle left part of FIG. 2, the situation where a dough piece phas been placed in a cell while the net 4 is on the flat surface s isdepicted. The flexible material 42 takes the shape of the dough piece pbut does not touch or is not flush with the support s. In the middleright part of FIG. 2, the situation where a dough piece p has beenplaced in a cell while the net 4 is on the carriage 3 is depicted. Thesetwo situations may correspond to the time when the dough piece p isproofing. Thanks to this deformability of the material 42, the doughpiece is maintained laterally and can keep its slightly circular sectionduring this phase.

Finally, in the right part of FIG. 2, the situation where two doughpieces p have been placed in cells 420 and where the net 4 and a sole220 are in the above-mentioned active position is depicted. In thiscase, the flexible material 42 of the net is deformed (namely the bottom421 of the cell 420) and is flattened upon contact with the sole 220 andallows the dough pieces p placed in the cells 420 to be cooked byconduction.

The deformation of the flexible material 42 being reversible, the cell420 will regain its original shape (see left part of FIG. 2) once thenet is removed from the sole.

A first method of application of the vertical movement mechanisms willnow be described in connection with FIGS. 3A and 3B. In this case, thesemechanisms 5 allow the cooking module 22 to be moved vertically inrelation to the carriage 3 and the soles 220.

The rear edges of the soles 220 of the cooking module 22 are fixed on amobile chassis 222, which could be made of assembled metallic tubes.

The upper part of the mobile chassis 222 is protracted with a verticalaxis 223, the upper end of which is connected to mechanical and/or motormechanisms 5. The latter allow the axis 223 and at the same time thechassis 222 and all the soles 220 to be moved vertically.

According to another possible variant, the chassis 222 slides alongguide rails attached to the oven walls by means of the mechanical and/ormotor mechanisms 5.

These mechanisms 5 could be an electrical motor and/or purely mechanicalelements, such as manual levers or rods or cams.

As an advantage, a control mechanism may be provided for to control thevertical movement mechanisms 5 upon opening or closing of the door 20 bythe operator.

This mechanism could be comprised of a sensor 6 which detects theposition of the door 20 and which is connected to the saidmotor/mechanical mechanisms 5 in order to activate or deactivate them.

The cooking mechanism functions as follows.

Once the dough pieces have been placed in the cells 420 of the net 4 andthese nets have been loaded onto the carriage 3, the baker can open thedoor 20 and insert the carriage 3 into the baking chamber 21 by slidingthis carriage on the bottom 213 of the oven 2.

The soles 220 will have been pre-heated.

The baker closes the door 20 and the motor mechanical mechanisms 5 areactivated to move the cooking module upwards as shown by arrow A on FIG.3B. Thus, it is in the active position.

When the baking by conduction is complete, the baker opens the door 20,and the motor mechanisms 5 are activated in the opposite direction tocause the module 22 to descend (see arrow B in FIG. 3A).

In this passive position, the soles 220 are away from the bottom 2 thecells and the baker can remove the carriage 3 from the oven 2.

Two other methods of application will now be described in connectionFIGS. 4A and 4B on the one hand, and 5A and 5B on the other.

The identical elements bear the same numeric references.

In the methods of application in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the cooking module 22is fixed since it is mounted on a fixed chassis 221, attached to theoven walls and it is the carriage 3 and the soles 220 which are movedand more specifically lowered.

In this case, the bottom 213 of the oven has a platform 70 in itscentral part, which could be circular and connected to mechanical ormotor mechanisms 7 such as jacks or levers. These mechanisms 7 allow theplatform 70 to be lowered in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 4B, untilthe bottom 421 of the cells 420 makes contact with the soles 220, orinversely to raise the platform 70 (arrow D in FIG. 4A) until the bottomof the cells 420 are removed from the soles 220 and the carriage 3 canbe removed.

Once again, the sensor 6 detecting the opening or closing of the door 20can be connected to the mechanical or motor mechanisms 7 so as tocontrol the movement of platform 70 in accordance with the position ofthe door 20.

According to one variant, the mechanisms to lower the nets (4) could beintegrated in the carriage 3. In such case, the nets 4 would be mountedon a mobile support chassis able to slide vertically in relation to thestructure of the carriage 3 carrying the wheels or other means of movingthe carriage.

This displacement could be done using mechanical means, such as one ormore notches attached to the mobile chassis able to go into orificeslocated at different heights on the fixed chassis constituting thestructure of the carriage 3. A system of rods is also possible.

As such, the nets 4 would be brought into contact with the soles 220 andwould deform to cook by conduction and inversely could be raised andremoved from the soles for the insertion or removal of the carriage fromthe oven.

The method of application in FIGS. 5A and 5B also allows the carriage 3and the corking module 22 to be jointly turned around a vertical axisX-X′ coaxial to the axis 223 (see arrows F in FIG. 5B).

In such case, the motor mechanisms 5′ not only the axis 223 to slide a overtically, but also to rotate.

Also, bearings 72 under the platform 70 are provided so that when themodule 22 is caused to rotate, the carriage 3 is also rotated and theplatform 70 turns due to the bearings 72.

The periphery of the platform 70 could, for example, have a series ofcogs mesh with a cogwheel on the output shaft of a motor.

The platform 70 could also comprise a vertical central axis which isdirectly caused to rotate.

According to a variant of the above method of application, which is notdepicted in the drawings, the platform 70 could be eliminated and thebottom 213 of the oven is then flat, as depicted in FIGS. 3A and 3B,which simplifies cleaning.

The cooking module 22 is slightly modified so as to comprise grippers ofthe carriage 3. Once the carriage 3 is inserted into the oven 2, and thenets 4 are above the soles 220, the cooking module 22 is moved upwardsin the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5B. After having covered a certainvertical course, the soles 220 come into contact with the nets 4 whichdeform as explained above and in this position relative to the cookingmodule 22 and the carriage 3, the grippers of the module 22 then comeinto contact with the carriage 3.

The vertical upward displacement of the cooking module 22 is continued,and as a result of the triggering of these grippers, the carriage 3 isalso raised and no longer rests on the bottom 213 of the oven.

The entire module 22/carriage 3 can then be rotated around the verticalX-X′ axis as explained above.

The grippers allow the relative position of the soles 220 and the nets 4to be fixed and to prevent them from deforming excessively or beingflattened when the module 22 is raised.

At the end of the cooking process, the module 22 is lowered (arrow B) asexplained above jointly with FIGS. 4A and 5B.

The hot air blown by the turbine 23 passes through the baking chamber(arrows ii) in order to heat the soles 22 which will cook the product byconduction and to complete the cooking process byventilation/convection.

Moreover, and although this has not been depicted in the drawings, it isalso possible to combine the different methods of application of FIGS.3A to 5B so as to simultaneously move the carriage 3 and the cookingmodule 22 vertically and/or to cause them to rotate.

It is also possible to combine the different methods of application ofthe oven of FIGS. 3A to 5B with the carriage in two parts or thecarriage with gripper arms described above.

In the first case, the carriage is inserted into the oven, and the partbearing the wheels is extracted, while the part bearing the solesremains inside the oven where the different displacement mechanismsrelating to the soles and nets are activated in order to cook byconduction. After the cooking, the part of the carriage equipped withwheels is once again inserted in the oven, attached to the part bearingthe nets 4 and the entire carriage is extracted from the oven.

In the second case, in a similar manner, only the nets 4 remain in theoven during baking. They could be placed on guide rails provided for inthe oven and it is the soles 220 which are moved towards the nets 4 tobake by conduction. The rest of the carriage 3 is outside of the ovenduring baking. Inversely, at the end of the baking process, it isre-inserted into the oven so that the grippers can allow the extractionof the nets 4.

The cooking device in accordance with the invention comprises severaladvantages.

It allows baking by conduction (called “sole” baking), by way of directcontact of the sole 220 with the bottom of the cells of the net 4, whileretaining the profitability and ease of use of a convection oven.

Also, the carriage 3 and the nets 4 can be used during the proofing ofthe dough. The dough pieces are retained laterally by the edges of thecells 420 and the flexible material 42 takes the shape of the doughpieces. The carriage 3 is then inserted directly into the oven. Thebaker no longer needs to transfer the dough pieces from a proofingcarriage to a second carriage to transfer or put them into the oven aswas the case with apparatus known from prior art.

Once placed in the oven, the material 42 deforms upon contact with thesoles 220 (is flattened) and provides a larger contact and thereforebaking surface between the dough piece and the sole, thus ensuringbaking by conduction and allowing the bottom of the bread to have theaesthetic aspect of direct sole baking, as with the methods of priorart.

Finally, this apparatus can also be used to bake pastries, such ascookies or pie shells.

1.-14. (canceled)
 15. A carriage for cooking dough-based food products,the carriage being configured for use with an oven comprising aplurality of soles, the carriage comprising: a carriage chassis; and aplurality of supports coupled together via the carriage chassis; eachsupport comprising at least one cell for holding said dough-based foodproducts to be baked; each support of the plurality of supports beingplaced in a superimposed manner above or below another support of theplurality of supports; each support being spaced apart from anothersupport of the plurality of supports; wherein the carriage is configuredto allow insertion of the plurality of supports into the oven andremoval of the plurality of supports from the oven; wherein the carriageinteracts with the oven to cause the plurality of supports and theplurality of soles to be brought into an active position and a passiveposition relative to each other; wherein in the active position a bottomportion of the at least one cell of a corresponding support touches atop portion of a corresponding sole of the plurality of soles; whereinin the passive position the bottom portion of at least one cell isspaced apart from the top portion of the corresponding sole; and whereinthe passive position allows the plurality of supports to be insertedinto and removed from the oven.
 16. The carriage according to claim 15,wherein the at least one cell is formed from a strip of deformableflexible material fixed onto a frame.
 17. The carriage according toclaim 16, wherein the strip of deformable material is heat resistant.18. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the plurality ofsupports and the plurality of soles are in the active position when adoor of the oven is closed and in the passive position when the door ofthe oven is open.
 19. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein thecarriage comprises one or more mechanisms, wherein the one or moremechanisms are coupled to the plurality of supports and the carriagechassis, and wherein the one or more mechanisms are configured to movethe plurality of supports vertically in relation to the carriage chassisto bring the plurality of supports into at least one of the activeposition or the passive position.
 20. The carriage according to claim15, wherein the oven comprises one or more mechanisms, and wherein theone or more mechanisms vertically move the plurality of supports of thecarriage which cause the plurality of supports to be lowered bringingthe plurality of supports into the active position and raised bringingthe plurality of supports into the passive position.
 21. The carriageaccording to claim 15, wherein the oven comprises one or moremechanisms, and wherein the one or more mechanisms vertically move theplurality of soles of the oven which cause the plurality of soles to beraised bringing the plurality of soles into the active position andlowered bringing the plurality of soles into the passive position. 22.The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the oven comprises an airpropulsion turbine and a heat source.
 23. The carriage according toclaim 15, wherein the carriage chassis comprises a plurality of pairs ofsliders, wherein each support is sized and arranged to be able to slidealong a corresponding pair of sliders, and wherein each support is sizedand arranged to be supported by the corresponding pair of sliders. 24.The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of supportsare made from a material that is at least one of water permeable orsteam permeable.
 25. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein theplurality of supports are made of woven fibreglass.
 26. The carriageaccording to claim 15, wherein the plurality of supports are coated witha non-stick material.
 27. The carriage according to claim 15, whereinthe oven comprises one or more additional mechanisms to jointly rotate acooking module, comprising the plurality of soles and the carriagecomprising the plurality of supports, around a vertical axis.
 28. Thecarriage according to claim 15, wherein the one or more additionalmechanisms are the same as the one or more mechanisms.
 29. The carriageaccording to claim 15, wherein the plurality of supports is a pluralityof platters.
 30. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein theplurality of supports is a plurality of nets.
 31. A system for cookingdough-based food products, the system comprising: an oven comprising: aplurality of soles; and a carriage comprising: a carriage chassis; and aplurality of supports coupled together via the carriage chassis; eachsupport comprising at least one cell for holding said dough-based foodproducts to be baked; each support of the plurality of supports beingplaced in a superimposed manner above or below another support of theplurality of supports; each support being spaced apart from anothersupport of the plurality of supports; wherein the carriage is configuredto allow insertion of the plurality of supports into the oven andremoval of the plurality of supports from the oven; wherein the carriageinteracts with the oven to cause the plurality of supports and theplurality of soles to be brought into an active position and a passiveposition relative to each other; wherein in the active position a bottomportion of the at least one cell of a corresponding support touches atop portion of a corresponding sole of the plurality of soles; whereinin the passive position the bottom portion of at least one cell isspaced apart from the top portion of the corresponding sole; and whereinthe passive position allows the plurality of supports to be insertedinto and removed from the oven.
 32. The system according to claim 31,wherein the plurality of supports are a plurality of platters.
 33. Thesystem according to claim 31, wherein the plurality of supports are aplurality of nets.
 34. A method for cooking dough-based food products,the method comprising: providing a carriage comprising a carriagechassis and a plurality of supports coupled together via the carriagechassis, each support comprising at least one cell for holding saiddough-based food products to be baked, each support of the plurality ofsupports being placed in a superimposed manner above or below anothersupport of the plurality of supports, and each support being spacedapart from another support of the plurality of supports; inserting thecarriage into an oven comprising a plurality of soles; and causing thecarriage to interact with the oven to cause the plurality of supportsand the plurality of soles to be brought into an active position and apassive position relative to each other; wherein in the active positiona bottom portion of the at least one cell of a corresponding supporttouches a top portion of a corresponding sole of the plurality of soles;wherein in the passive position the bottom portion of at least one cellis spaced apart from the top portion of the corresponding sole; andwherein the passive position allows the plurality of supports to beinserted into and removed from the oven.